Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) took the first World Tour victory of his career at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal on Sunday after a 206 kilometre race of attrition. Costa outkicked breakaway companion Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ), with World Tour number one Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) following up his win in Quebec City with third place in Montreal.

The GP Cycliste de Montreal doesn't offer the scenic and historic backdrops of Quebec, but it makes up for it with its history as punishing circuit, dating back to the world championships in 1974, when Eddy Merckx outdueled Raymond Poulidor. Since then, this course, dominated by the two kilometre climb up Mont Royal, has played host to the Olympics and multiple World Cups.

The 12.1 kilometre circuit heads up the Camillien-Houde climb, followed by an immediate descent into city streets. Riders then tackle the second climb of the circuit, the short, steep Ecole Polytechnique ascent, followed by a tight, sharp descent and a right onto a section of straight road with the feedzone. After curving around the base of Mont Royal, the riders hit the divided Avenue du Parc, heading down one side past the finish line and making a 180 degree turn to face the final slightly uphill 500 metres to the finish line. They cover the course 17 times, for nearly 4000 metres of elevation gain.

The action started almost instantly, with Ben King (RadioShack) attacking before the base of the climb. This tactic garnered him the U.S. national road title last year, but this year he was chased down almost immediately, and a series of attacks and counterattacks were launched through the lap, splitting the field as the peloton hit the climb for the second time.

Seventy riders made the front split, with the gap growing to 30 seconds as they started lap three. Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) then launched the most serious attack of the race thus far, gaining 30 seconds. He kept looking over his shoulder, hoping others would join his effort, but it took a lap before three riders bridged up - Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) and Danilo Di Luca (Katusha). Canadian national champion Svein Tuft (SpiderTech) tried to bridge, but crashed in the 180 degree corner at the end of lap four - he suffered abrasions to his hip and arm, but kept riding.

Lap four also saw Gilbert suffer mechanical problems, throwing his bike down while he waited for a replacement. Significantly, no team mates waited for him; possibly due to his statement after winning the Quebec race: that he had a weak team and had no help during his winning ride. Gilbert has also announced that he is leaving the team to join BMC next season. He crashed a lap later, and this time was paced back to the peloton by his team mates.

Once the lead group had formed, the peloton slowed considerably, with both halves joining up again, and the gap shooting up to nearly seven minutes by lap seven. Team Sky decided this was too much, and upped the tempo in the bunch, bringing the gap down steadily, to under four minutes at the halfway mark. By lap 13 (five to go), the gap was under three minutes, and Rabobank was contributing to chase, as was Garmin-Cervelo.

Two laps later, the peloton was considerably diminished and the break was within their sights on the climb, only 23 seconds ahead. Juan Flecha (Sky), Danilo Wyss (BMC) and Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) were about to catch the frontrunners. Pate attacked solo, managing to stay out long enough to grab a few more Climber points and lock up that title.

As Pate was caught, with two and a half laps to go, a group of 15 broke away, including Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo), Michael Barry (Sky), Pate, Gregory Rast (RadioShack), Costa, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R), Tuft and David Veilleux (Europcar). This group was much too dangerous, and both Gilbert and defending Montreal champion Robert Gesink (Rabobank) launched attacks off the front of the peloton. Barry attacked hard at the front to keep the break going, dropping Tuft and Veilleux in the process, but the peloton was reeling them in as the last lap began, and they were caught early on the climb.

Sky immediately launched a counterattack with Simon Gerrans and Rigoberto Uran, followed by Christian VandeVelde (Garmin-Cervelo). They were caught over the top of the climb, and Costa managed to get away before the Polytechnique climb with Fedrigo and Stefan Denifl (Leopard-Trek). The gap was less than ten seconds, but Gesink could not close it, despite having Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) with him. When Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked them, neither responded, waiting for the other to go, and this sealed the win for Costa, as the gap stretched to 16 seconds while the chasers played a dangerous game of chicken.

The bunch finally got themselves organized, but it was too late. Costa and Fedrigo managed to stay two seconds clear of the front of the field, with Gilbert leading the bunch across the line for third.

Costa, completing possibly the best season of his career, commented: "Obviously, winning [stage 8] at the Tour de France is the highlight of my career, but this is pretty close. I was not too worried when we came down the climb with a 15 second lead. I were pretty confident, and never looked back. Once the red flag was past, the only thing on my mind was to win. I knew Fedrigo had to be beaten, but I just went for it."

Gilbert, one of the favourites after winning Quebec and the World Tour for 2011, professed himself completely satisfied with third. "Honestly, it's a superb result. I crashed, and I was really scared, I thought maybe it was over for the world championships. But I managed to get back on the bike, and I was feeling better and better. In the final lap lots of teams worked hard to bring us back, and I'm always at my best when the pace is high. At 500 metres it was probably my longest sprint of the season, and there was nothing else I could do. It's a good result."

Hesjedal was the top Canadian finisher in 11th. We have interviews with Ryder Hesjedal, Svein Tuft and Francois Parisien to go up shortly.

Grand Prix Cyclist de Montreal, 205.7 km

1 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team

5:20:18

2 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ

at s.t.

3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

0:02

4 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

5 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Leopard Trek

both s.t.

6 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-ISD

0:04

7 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

8 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ

9 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale

10 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Leopard Trek

11 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo

12 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Quick Step Cycling Team

13 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar

14 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

15 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling

16 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

18 Ben Hermans (Bel) Team Radioshack

19 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team

20 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick Step Cycling Team

21 Anders Lund (Den) Leopard Trek

22 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar

23 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

24 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Esp) Movistar Team

25 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) HTC-Highroad

26 Peter Stetina (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo

27 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team

all s.t.

28 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

0:10

29 Hayden Roulston (NZl) HTC-Highroad

30 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

31 Thibault Pinot (Fra) FDJ

32 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

33 Gorazd Strangelj (Slo) Pro Team Astana

34 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Lampre-ISD

35 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Saxo Bank Sungard

36 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

37 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack

38 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team

39 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp) Movistar Team

all all s.t.

40 André Steensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard

0:14

41 Bruno Pires (Por) Leopard Trek

s.t.

42 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

0:16

43 Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale

44 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

45 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling

46 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step Cycling Team

all s.t.

47 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Esp) Movistar Team

0:21

48 Simon Clarke (Aus) Pro Team Astana

49 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

both s.t.

50 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Esp) Sky Procycling

0:28

51 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick Step Cycling Team

52 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team

both s.t.

53 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ

0:32

54 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Procycling

0:34

55 Christian VandeVelde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo

s.t.

56 Brian Vandborg (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard

0:38

57 Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Movistar Team

s.t.

58 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

0:40

59 Lars Nordhaug (Nor Sky Procycling

0:43

60 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale

0:44

61 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

s.t.

62 François Parisien (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

4:43

63 Edward King (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale

64 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

65 Benjamin King (USA) Team Radioshack

66 Svein Tuft (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

67 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale

68 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

69 Martin Mortensen (Den) Leopard Trek

70 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

71 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Procycling

72 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ

73 Mikel Landa Meana (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

74 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step Cycling Team

75 Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team

76 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

77 Michel Kreder (Ned) Team Garmin-Cervelo

78 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

all s.t.

79 Oscar Pujol (Esp) Omega Pharma-Lotto

4:48

80 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard

4:56

81 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

82 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Leopard Trek

83 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo

84 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Radioshack

85 Marcel Pavarin (Ital) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

86 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo

all s.t.

87 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar

6:53

88 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar

89 Grégory Rast (Sui) Team Radioshack

90 David Loosli (Sui) Lampre-ISD

91 Danny Pate (USA) HTC-Highroad

all s.t.

HD Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ

93 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

8:24

94 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale

95 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-ISD

96 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-ISD

97 Michael Morkov (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard

98 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Esp) Saxo Bank Sungard

99 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

100 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

101 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

102 Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick Step Cycling Team

103 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team

104 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team

105 Yannick Eussen (Bel BMC Racing Team

106 Enrique Sanz (Esp) Movistar Team

107 Gatia Smukulis (LAt) HTC-Highroad

108 Ryan Roth (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

109 Javier Iriarte (Esp) Movistar Team

110 Caleb Fairly (USA) HTC-Highroad

111 Jeffrey Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team

all s.t.

112 Laurent Didier (Lux) Saxo Bank Sungard

10:24

DNF Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

DNF Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team

DNF Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo

DNF David Zabriskie (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo

DNF Maarten Neyens (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

DNF Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

DNF Sven van Dousselaerre (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Omega Pharma-Lotto

DNF Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Sky Procycling

DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling

DNF Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

DNF Alan Pérez Lezaun (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

DNF Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi

DNF Iván Velasco Murillo (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi

DNF Brice Feillu (Fra) Leopard Trek

DNF Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team

DNF Timothy Roe (Aus) BMC Racing Team

DNF Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team

DNF Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad

DNF Patrick Gretsch (Ger) HTC-Highroad

DNF Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad

DNF Alfredo Balloni (Ita) Lampre-ISD

DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-ISD

DNF Enrico Magazzini (Ita) Lampre-ISD

DNF Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Esp) Saxo Bank Sungard

DNF Manuel Antonio Cardoso (Por) Team Radioshack

DNF Robbie Hunter (RSA) Team Radioshack

DNF Jason McCartney (USA) Team Radioshack

DNF Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Katusha Team

DNF Danilo di Luca (Ita) Katusha Team

DNF Sergei Ivanov (Rus) Katusha Team

DNF Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha Team

DNF Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Katusha Team

DNF Allan Davis (Aus) Pro Team Astana

DNF Dimitry Fofonov (Kaz)) Pro Team Astana

DNF Maxim IGourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana

DNF Serguey Renev (Kaz) Pro Team Astana

DNF Yevgeniy Nepomnychsiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana

DNF David Arroyo Duran (Esp) Movistar Team

DNF Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step Cycling Team

DNF Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step Cycling Team

DNF Martin Elmiger (Sui) AG2R La Mondiale

DNF Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

DNF Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

DNF Woutter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

DNF Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

DNF Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar

DNF Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar

DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar

DNF Said Haddou(Fra) Team Europcar

DNF Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ

DNF Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ

DNF Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

DNF Rémi Cusin (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

DNF Jean-Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

DNF Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, le crédit en Ligne

DNF Patrick Jonathan McCarty (USA) Team Spidertech powered by C10

DNF Ryan Anderson (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

DNF Bruno Langlois (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

DNF Lucas Euser (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

DNF Will Routley (Can) Team Spidertech powered by C10

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Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec September 9/11 - September 11/11, Quebec City and Montreal